Lothlorien Hall

Lothlorien, known by residents as "Loth", is a Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC) vegetarian themed house. Majority of BSC members are students at the University of California, Berkeley. Lothlorien's 58 residents refer to themselves as "elves."[1] All house-bought food is vegetarian and house bylaws prohibit preparation, storage, or consumption of meat in common space.[2] Many residents of Lothlorien are vegetarians and vegans, but diet is not a condition of residence.[3] Only organic food is purchased by the house.[4] Unlike majority of BSC houses, Lothlorien retains a unique communal culture with fusion of art and progressive activism being a mainstay of the house.[1][5][6] Residents named themselves "elves" after the elves in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy book The Lord of the Rings, who inhabit Lothlórien.[7]

Lothlorien
General information
Location2415 Prospect Street, Southside, Berkeley, California 94704
Coordinates37°52′4″N 122°14′58″W
Completed1883 and 1920
Housing
General information
CategoryStudent housing cooperative
Population58
No. of flats14 Singles - 15 Doubles - 2 Triples - 2 Quads
Other information
Governing
body		Berkeley Student Cooperative

History

The the Lothlorian house is composed of two buildings. North House (2405 Prospect) originally stood in the middle of the Channing circle, where Channing Way meets Piedmont Avenue.[7] It was a mansion owned by the Maxwell family, known in the area as Maxwell House.[7] Near the turn of the 20th century, the family decided they wanted a better view, put the house on logs and rolled it up the hill to its present location next to South House, which was a sorority during the 1920s.[7] Both houses were owned by Victor Constantine who in 1969 leased them to the One World Family, a utopian commune led by Allen Michael who believed in extraterrestrial guidance for the transformation of humanity, and operated a vegetarian restaurant on Telegraph Avenue. The BSC bought the building in 1975.[7]

In 1984, a former member disappeared while jogging in Oakland hills with two Lothloriens, one of whom was her boyfriend. This made national news and over 2,000 people volunteered to find her. Her body was found five weeks later, which led to her boyfriend being charged with murder. He was acquitted, but found guilty of manslaughter.[8][9]

Community

Lothlorien stands out from other Berkeley Student Cooperative houses as it has prominent qualities of a commune not solely of a student housing cooperative.[1][2] From a Lothlorien statement:

We respect everyone’s level of engagement in the community. That said, we do try to create the society we want to see in our daily lives, and practice participatory democracy, consent, and anti-oppression. Knowing that we're 58 people from all different backgrounds, we hold workshops and guide one another towards creating a safe and inclusive space where we can all feel at home.[2]

In a 2001 issue of Communities magazine, a former member added:

Lothlorien, after 25 years, still attracts those committed to cooperative living and envelops all who pass through it in the nurturing field of its unique traditions. Where many student co-ops struggle to create a lasting identity, Lothlorien succeeds, persisting as an entity unto itself, where the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts.[1]

Customs with elements of folklore and mythology are a part of Lothlorien culture.[n 1][n 2] With significant parts of cultural tradition being passed on through the annual ritual of "Initiation."[n 3] In addition, the co-op is known for its rejection of conservative social norms - it is the birthplace of the "naked run" done by students through the main campus library at the end of each semester.[11]

Lothlorien is the only BSC house to make decisions by Quaker based consensus, rather than majority vote.[2] House council meets weekly, and usually consists coordinator reports, and proposals. These can be brought to council by members and non-members alike, and may range in topic from asking to stay as a guest to using money from the maintenance budget to buy materials to paint a mural. Proposals are adopted when all those present at council come to consensus on the issue, a member can raise a "major objection" a way of showing that they are considering moving out if the proposal is adopted.[12] Raising the objection results in denial of the proposal.[12]

Political activism and environmental concern is one of the main themes of the Lothlorien community.[2][13] Often members major in different fields of environmental science and/or actively participate in protests.[14] Lothloriens joined other activists in university oak grove controversy, where a tree sitting near the Memorial Stadium lasted from December 2006 to September 2008.[15][16][17] Lothlorien also organized and passed a UC Berkeley referendum creating an annual $100,000 fund for green initiatives at the university.[15]

The two houses

Lothlorien consists of two adjacent houses: North House at 2405 Prospect Street, and South House at 2415 Prospect Street. The two houses surround a common courtyard area and share a communal kitchen and dining room in the South House. In 2010, Lothlorien was the first co-op house to install photovoltaic solar panels.[18]

  • Treehouse
  • Kitchen
  • Site plan
  • Section through courtyard

Notes
  1. Rhetorical custom is often a part of political conversation: "Lothlorien resident Iman Kazah said, 'It took me a long time to learn a certain dialect in Loth,' a house where the culture encourages speaking in a specific rhetoric as to best engender inclusivity.'"[6]
  2. In a humorous description of some members beliefs, L. Rainey writes: "Ghosts of past residents haunt the hallways, known to bang on walls, rearrange furniture and make trouble, particularly for the men living in the house. Two female spirits haunt the co-op — both victims of domestic violence and fraught passion who died while living at Lothlorien years ago."[10]
  3. T. Sterling, author of the Communities article writes: "At Initiation, we explain the origins of some of those gatherings, and the legends of our sauna and hot tub - the latter a giant sewer pipe end rescued by some enterprising "elves" with a forklift. As the evening slowly fades, Initiation concludes with the passing of chalices fashioned from red bell peppers, each filled with carrot juice. We eat and drink of these as the story of our two house symbols unfolds: the original carrot held aloft by a fist, the image of which graces our homemade T-shirts, was at one point thought too phallic, so the red pepper was added as a symbol of feminine power."[1]

References
  1. Sterling, Ted (Spring 2001). "It's a magical life". Communities. 110: 41–44 – via ProQuest.
  2. "Lothlorien | Berkeley Student Cooperative". www.bsc.coop. Archived from the original on 2020-11-26. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  3. "The Daily Californian - Vegan, Vegetarian Students Find Berkeley Welcoming". 2006-02-23. Archived from the original on 2006-02-23. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  4. "The Daily Californian - Increase in Food Costs Forces Co-Ops to Cut Meal Spending". archive.dailycal.org. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  5. Staff, Sophia Weltman | (2014-03-03). "Activism plays role in student-run production of Bertolt Brecht's plays". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  6. Kurata, Elizabeth; Smith, Conner (2016-04-29). "Demystifying the co-ops". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  7. "Lothlorien House - History of the Houses". 2007-10-06. Archived from the original on 2007-10-06. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  8. Ginsburg, Marsha (1995-02-10). "Killer of Berkeley student "Bibi" Lee to be paroled". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  9. "People v. Page (1991)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  10. "A real haunted house: the spirits of Lothlorien | The Daily Californian". 2016-08-14. Archived from the original on 2016-08-14. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  11. Staff, Michelle Pitcher | (2015-12-07). "The naked truth about the Naked Run". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  12. "Low-income students question whether UC Berkeley co-ops are living up to mission - SFChronicle.com". 2020-10-29. Archived from the original on 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  13. "Drummond: UC Berkeley students feel the Bern". East Bay Times. 2016-02-10. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  14. Staff, Sareen Habeshian | (2016-10-31). "Campus students join protest efforts in North Dakota over proposed pipeline". The Daily Californian. Archived from the original on 2019-04-06. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  15. Alfred (2011-09-05). "It's a Co-op: Lothlorien & the limits of sustainability". It's a Co-op. Archived from the original on 2020-12-01. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  16. Jones, Carolyn (2007-12-02). "One year into protest, UC Berkeley's tree-sitters firmly planted". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  17. "Four Remaining Tree-Sitters Leave UC Berkeley Oak Grove". The Daily Californian. Archived from the original on 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  18. "Solar Photovoltaic - Sustainability". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
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